us congress votes to pull the economy from the brink of sliding back into recession by proving a bill that prevents the country getting a bit of preschool cliff. meeting creasing conversion to islam and the u.k.'s official religion losing popularity some experts question whether it's time for britain to become a secular state. and with a shaky cease fire with israel in place and a stint in farmers in gaza have moved from land to roof for a safer place to grow their progeny is still the front line.

for you watching r.t. live from moscow one kerry johnston. u.s. house of representatives has approved a controversial bill designed to prevent the country from potentially sliding back into recession the fiscal cliff deal passed the senate to prevent nationwide tax hikes and spending cuts from coming into force and least for the time being the house republicans wanted to amend the bill but then decided they didn't have enough support to make last minute changes to the motion tug of war over the text revolved around a democrat promoted increase in income tax for the rich the first time in two decades but analysts lawrence freeman says that in the long run the bill won't make life any easier for millions of struggling americans. i mean anyway this whole

operation has been a manipulation. and a farce to me work over the minds of the american population nothing in the proposal that in any way shape or form will actually help the economy what we're seeing right now is government twenty seven million people unemployed and missing boy you have forty nine point seven million people living in poverty you have tens of millions of people going to bread lines get their food so this question of the physical harm in the well for the population is not good at all or nothing is going to be a result we're going to get aggressively to change the hope many of them for that last legal separation of the banks and that will be some of the there obama will be nothing good we people as a rule congress that much that you eight percent went back on wealthy people i don't find that the base of the theme credit or the tax credit is

a question of what kind of credit even to make available for investment in infrastructure in job energy and rebuilding new york me curiously in providing people with jobs so they can bring home money with major family those are the crucial question. and in the hands with the british monarchy the church of england has been a symbol of the u.k. for centuries while the church still enjoys many unique political and financial privileges its current state is less than secure. discover it. one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world with one official state religion to some it's a paradox i think any institute any faith institution like the church of england is going to have some potential threats on the horizon and those threats on the horizon are basically around its relevance to communities in general other faiths

are significantly growing in their not only population but their voice in a social and political level so it's really important to have a plurality of opinion rather than just focus on one institution as being reflective of the nation yet the national church has twenty six years on the elected members in the house of lords the upper house of britain's parliament and it enjoys financial privileges courtesy of the u.k. taxpayer by the church's own admission the number of people coming through the doors of this and every other church in england has harvard over the past forty years the very same report even warns that in the longer term the established religion faces are fading away to virtual embellishments twenty anglican churches just like this one being closed down for worship each year entrepreneurial property developers a snapping them up and converting them to luxury housing or even light clubs while

the number of church goers in the u.k. continues to fall some one hundred thousand britons have converted to islam over the past decade three quarters of those white women as you know broaden my knowledge about islam and compared with christianity i must tell you i found a more logical you know it just resonates with me i like what the prince of wales but he wants to be if ever he becomes king he wants to be the leader of faith you know of all faiths that i think is a wonderful statement because certainly our society here in britain is very multi call. very multi-faith so everybody should be included while other faiths enjoy popularity the church of england's recent rejection of women bishops and disapproval of gay marriage has reignited the age old debate on the separation of church and state people feel alienated if they're not part of that church and so few people are because only two percent go to church on

a normal sunday so that's why we must i think make sure that the church is disestablished in the twenty six bishops that votes in the house of lords the only country in the world to have a parliament where they have the right to do that should be extinguished britain now has one of the lowest rates of church attendance in europe there is a rule. in terms of religious opinions there is and that will grow and that future may actually become wider as time goes on and so i guess what we have today is is the church effectively being relevant to certain parts of this country despite centuries of tradition some question what will be left of the church of england in fifty years time though the statistics are very clear very clear almost disappeared with something i think the twenty fifty

figures are one hundred thousand people in the pews on an average sunday out of a population of sixty million that's miniscule but the privileges and political influence afforded to it are far from trivial and that's what's fuelling the calls of those who say that it's fairer to separate the church from the state party boy r t london. well island has taken on the six month presidency of the european council marking forty years of its e.u. membership prime minister enda kenny has pledged to bring the republic's vast experience of coping with financial difficulties to the table or focusing on the e.u. is economic recovery earlier i spoke to analyst robert oulds told me it may prove to be a tough task for the celtic tiger one of the key challenges facing many countries in europe is of course the economic difficulties and ireland is of course rigidly sticking to the austerity drive which the european union wants which it mandating

arlan to do it's effectively running its budget policies in many different areas amount of money that it can be can spend to deal with the deficit but of course arlen's medicine that they're taking and partly suffering from but they're getting on with it isn't really vital for the rest of europe so if they're going to be driving forward the agenda in the european union for the next six months that's not the. economic problems but let me ask you this i mean this coming year twenty thirty you know the e.u. has come up with something called the european year of citizens to essentially highlight the rights people have because they're in the e.u. what do you make of that one of the key what people should have is a via to elect their own government and for that to actually make a real difference but of course with the european union power has become too centralized amongst the into touche and in brussels and that just takes away power from ordinary citizens of the european union can tell us why it's that we have but

of course we don't actually have the vite to make a real difference of elections because far too many decisions now are made at the supranational level major decisions being made in brussels away from the citizens whether they be the citizens of violent or britain or spain or greece for that matter ok but we restored but were there any success stories in twenty twelve or must have been something even after all the countries predicted to have collapsed by now are still surviving. well course unemployment continues to go up at that for the states within the euro zone that's very alarming and their economic problems will not be resolved until of course it's recognize that the euro the single currency is the carbon c for these countries really we need to have a back of powers away from brussels to all the different member states and of course britain should of course have its own referendum on our membership as well and have our own say but it needs to be recognised that the european union is of

course failing economically so it still is still there it still exists but the price of people are paying is of course no economic growth and of course massively high unemployment which is now reaching alarming proportions for many different eurozone states. well more stories coming your way this hour including the saw didn't kill for decades. it's a disease that i understand can kill you. if we find out how some veterans of the nine hundred sixty sexual revolution in california deal with the threat of hepatitis c. and why health officials there are ringing alarm bells are. mature pickings from rooftop farms people in gaza hit the tunnels to raise crops on top of the houses as israel keeps security lights around the strip well that's great.

news today violence is once again flared up. in these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. the giant corporations are the day. you will be. sorry it's technology innovation all the news developments from around russia we've got the future covered. choose your language. of choice we cover the influential. choose the news the consent you. choose the opinions that you.

choose the stories that impact your life choose me access to. welcome back here with r.t. with israel easing restrictions to allow building materials into gaza and nations a blockade of the strip so affects those who live there one group are bearing the brunt of the restrictions off farmers many of whom had to leave their land in the buffer zones to grow food on rooftops but i support us there reports the recent assault on gaza still fresh in the memory some fear they may not see their next harvest there's not a lot of greenery in gaza at least not in the places you'd expect to find it like abu hafs arms farm which since the israel gaza war four years ago has laid a barren and deserted. look to europe and i had a very nice plantation

a lot of visitors came to see it also students from the farming school used to come and study at my place. but walked from israel raining down on one of the most densely populated spots on earth meant i will have needed to find another place where he could grow his crops and so he looked towards his own home and upwards that. i needed an alternative so i made this plain station on the roof and started working again. creates a lot of things if he has time and energy i can make fifty thousand suppling from these simonson meters on the roof with them seize it. it's an idea that's taken root in farms along the gaza israel border where much of the agriculture has been repeatedly destroyed by the israeli army many farmers are unable to access the land because of the buffer zone that's one of at least a third of gaza's farm land your. today there is no

space to have a farm in gaza it is very crowded everybody is building new houses where i stand now used to be a plantation for oranges and lemons and if you look at it now you see buildings. fall out of five people in gaza are dependent on food aid homegrown food projects like rooftop gardens can help combat malnutrition and severe poverty by allowing farmers to sell their produce marry anyone can do it i work with my husband and my daughters till midnight is that half a lot of farming should be on the ground but we heard that we can plant in volcanic rock on our roofs so i tried it. farmers grow wheat barley and a variety of fruits and nuts on these rooftops they also raise rabbits and chickens showing how a little ingenuity can go a long way ask anyone in israel or gaza whether they think the situation is stable and they'll tell you it's only a matter of time before the next israel gaza showdown there might be

a cease fire in place between the two sides but no one believes it will hold least of all the gaza farmers who are always the first in the line of fire policy r.t. on the israel gaza border. more international news stories for you now in syria fresh fighting has been reported between us and loyalists and rebels in the second city of aleppo and in the capital where the national airport is on the military see insurgent positions in the suburbs of damascus reportedly being shelled it comes after anti government activists claimed dozens of bodies bearing signs of torture were discovered in the capital it's not who is responsible for the alleged atrocity the violence is continuing despite a stark warning from the top international peace and boy to syria he says the country faces of choice of political process or hell. authorities in the ivory coast have declared three days of mourning after a stampede during new year's celebrations in the lives of more than sixty people

the tragedy occurred when a large crowd was leaving a city stadium after a fireworks show a similar incident happened in and during a new year's festivities leaving ten dead in the hundred twenty injured. four people have been killed and dozens wounded after an explosion in a crowded area of pakistan's southern city karate police say the bomb was planted on a motorbike and detonated when a political rally of the city's dominant party passed by no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the liberal party. specked militants might have targeted the rally cry to upcoming general elections. and venezuela's leader hugo chavez is conscious following a cancer operation in cuba that's according to the country's vice president nicolas maduro however stressed the president's condition remains delicate it was earlier

reported that chavez was suffering complications or is by a spiritual infection under the constitution of the socialist president was due to be sworn in for a third term on january tenth. now space travel has fascinated generations of star gazers but have you ever considered going into all bit for your next holiday where it appears and many people have an early r.t. talk to eric anderson a space entrepreneur about the part that private orbital travel has played in exploration that the full interview is on their return eight hundred forty five g.m.t. but here's a quick preview. base tourism honestly is not a great word for what these people do when they participate as private citizens going to the space station every single one of them who's flown with space adventures to the space station has had an in-depth scientific program whether it was material science or biological experiments or whatever it was they have

participated they have paid their own way of course they have used themselves as part of the scientific community that many of them have gone to space with less than perfect health and have been great examples of how for example laser surgery on your eyes is affected by space flight they all want to participate in this they are participating and the fact of the matter is quite honestly when private citizens go to the space station a lot more people hear about the space station than otherwise it's just one of those things that they captures the public's attention part of nasa is mission is to encourage to the maximum extent possible the commercial use of space and in fact showing that there's a market showing that there are people willing to do this and showing that you don't have to be a career military fighter pilot the right stuff kind of person that plays a huge role and i think that's exactly the sort of thing that ends up helping the space agencies of the world as well.

described as the silent killer health officials in the u.s. are calling for baby boomers to be checked to see a disease that's becoming increasingly prevalent in the age group as artie's within the culture over reports decades after this summer of love and in california fantail now have to pay for their head in the stick one stone. california the sunshine state once the center of the hippie revolution and melting pot of music rock sound sexual freedom we did drugs that we didn't think about there was no process because everybody was doing their deen made chill is a baby boomer born during the pos world war two years nineteen's forty six and nine

hundred sixty five his generation now is paying for that lifestyle a life of things drugs and rock'n'roll all fueled by flower power and the summer of love they say few remember the sixty's you were intrigued there the baby boomers out of the sexual revolution may have lost some of their memories and they have the mists of time but there is one legacy of their past which is anything but harmless the centers for disease control has already named him patatas see as an unrecognized health crisis according to their grannies ation current he won in thirty baby boomers are infectious with the virus the silent killer it can lie dormant for decades that's what happened to dean mitchell's friend who died just two months after being diagnosed with the disease they're paying for the car consequences because there are now so that. they have to get medication. and it's a disease that i understand can kill you but worst of all it's not just baby boomers

who are interested maybe could have a knowing if you contract the virus through blood transfusions screening was already. a crisis in the ninety's. californian's bay area has been the hardest hit with more people dying here than anywhere else in the country it is also a very costly problem for the bankruptcy state costing billions of dollars last year. for the. very. sinister. forces since. it. is. more widespread than h. i v have to tighten kills around twelve thousand people in the us after

a year and with the baby boomers in behind stress group the center for disease control has called for mass screening they say they could identify almost a million people now living with the disease and save many more lives but the question remains if the present generation will listen might you know question archie reporting from las angeles california. on our websites today following the brutal gang rape that shook delhi to the core hundreds of indian women a life of foreign licenses join self-defense classes. to report seals a number of japanese nuclear plants in the grip to deal with fires threatening to set back the reactivation of the country's nuclear stations by years went on to r.t. dot com to find out more. water will twenty thirteen bring to the international political arena that's the question for people of venice guests in the latest cross

talk shows on the main issues the growing tension in the asia pacific but the u.s. continues its military buildup against china we can watch the full episode here in r.t. in about two hours time but here's a quick look i don't know of enemy i think. well america always needs a new enemy america always has an enemy ok so is this the new one. well you well yet we we need something to leverage our in the tea against that it was russia for a while and then it was japan remember the early eighties arisings on it and now and now it's well then it was iran and iraq and iran and saddam really helped because saddam was he looked evil he was perfectly good police sketch artist rendering of a child molester yeah he was a perfect villain and china is kind of faces and really no war if it's all down to we know there he. did go ahead john jumping on it. so this is really amazing to me

because the primary problem that the united states sees with china is that its economy is too strong and that it's building up its military so these are two things that the united states prides itself on i.g.n. military and a big economy right what that weather what a big economy in china reflects is number one a lot of hundreds of thousands of people being lifted out of poverty in inch inside china but also means help for the united states because trade is obviously mutually beneficial and so trade in international borders being a little more open to trade this is a good thing for the united states and washington wants to paint it as a bad thing they're playing a very sort of great game geo politicking in asia and because china is having success they're moving to try and contain china so that means backing a lot of unscrupulous people in asia pacific surging military forces there naval forces there this is all very bad it's an interesting way of the united states

turning something positive into something very terrible and it makes it easy for people to go china is our next greatest enemy. believe that anything. is. coming your way relive the twenty twelve end of the world controversy in our special report apocalypse now just a couple of times. day starts at five am in the winter tending to his flock of three hundred sheep in the mountains and plains of t.v.

thirty five years old it wasn't the life he having studied accounting but she dishes and familial duty dictated that he would take on the k. of these items after his father. he's just made camp at their winter farm stage setting up his ute the traditional two fenian round tent made of disc ins his p.c. back amongst his family his job is a lonely one and tough going out in all weathers braving streams of plus to minus forty degrees celsius it's just that i'm with them there are certain difficulties there's not enough time for everything i'm almost alone my sister works with my mother my mother is seventy five she's very old and i miss mountains when i'm in town and i spend a lot of time here right now probably sort on most of us simply carrying out the work that his father did and his father before him nothing has changed over many many centuries and that's half the problem it's hard work and many people don't want to come into the industry now and it's really fit there could die out

altogether. it's difficult to manage everything alone i used to have people who helped me but they were no good they didn't take care of the sheep with all their heart they hurt the cattle dogs. with new people leaving them coming to the countryside the region's government is having to act making the life of the herd and more attractive than promising largest subsidies for produce and livestock and organizing cooperatives first sale of day products to ensure the herder gets a high at fair price i sympathize with those youngsters leaving for an easier more profitable life they in their publics capital because ill but he no longer wishes to join them he enjoys his pastoral way of life now looking for a helper who shares his enthusiasm but more time on his hands he says matter of fact you can start to look for a new wife. than

. one afternoon on the shores of the ocean blue. one of those days when it feels good to be alive on the planet earth. carefree humanity. maybe unthinking humanity even . a few kilometers away a man has given us an appointment on a mountain summit. a place in keeping with what anatole calls his work. he's been devoting all his time and energy to it for the last six years now. this

former computer expert. even quit his job to get ready for it for the end of the world. and the work i do will take me out of body i will ask to meet those superior beings who hold the keys for humanity already clear that he went to talk to them. to see what can be done for two thousand and twelve ordered. by telepathic trip to get him into contact with mysterious superior beings beings who have announced to him the destruction of the planet on december the twenty first two thousand and twelve very precisely. it will be by fire volcanoes earthquakes and most importantly of course by water floods of comedy as the plates will shift rise and lower the ocean bottom will lift and what will appear is atlantis shows.